


Exhausted Bug

by Minkle_Thorn



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Does not follow cannon events, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, My First Fanfic, One Shot, Set before Dark Owl, Small bit of Plagg & Tikki's relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 12:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16534820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minkle_Thorn/pseuds/Minkle_Thorn
Summary: Adrien discovers an exhausted Ladybug after a long and difficult akuma.  What does one do with a Ladybug who fainted in your arms?Basically just a short, fluffy, reveal fic.





	Exhausted Bug

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago, but didn't really want to post it anywhere because I've never written something like this before. This is my first fic, so be gentle with the comments! Constructive (kind) criticism appreciated. Enjoy!

“I’m exhausted. Carry me.”

Adrien’s eyes widened and he looked down to Ladybug who was heavily steadying herself on his shoulder. 

“Wh-What?”

She huffed and tried to hold herself up but lost her grip. He just barely managed to catch her.

“L-Ladybug. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She breathed heavier and curled up in his arms.

“Adrien... I-... I’m exhausted-... I-...”, her eyes rolled around until she closed them, slipping into unconsciousness. Adrien bit his lip and gently shook her. She had to wake up. She couldn’t just fall like that! He scooped her up in his arms and blinked the stinging tears away.

“I’ll bring you somewhere safe. You can’t just faint here like that. Someone could’ve seen you...”

He gently slipped away to escape from questioning gazes, carrying her back to his father's mansion through alleyways. He breathed in deeply and looked down to her face with the red mask.

“Don’t worry. I’ll care for you.”

When he got to the mansion, he poked his head in to check if Nathalie was still working at her desk at this hour. Luckily, it looks like she turned in early. He crept up the stairs to his room with his lady still asleep in his arms. He laid her gently on his bed and sat down next to her, holding her hand. 

His thoughts traveled to the battle with the akuma. He had used up his Cataclysm power and was feeding Plagg when the magical ladybugs flew all around the city. He sighed in relief. They had been chasing this akuma around for what seemed like hours on end. As he walked out onto the street, he found his lady sagging against a building – clearly exhausted. He approached her, helped her up and… well, she fainted in his arms. 

Her miraculous suddenly started to beep, causing panic to spread through him. Personally, he would not mind at all if he found out his lady’s identity, but he knew that it was extremely important to her that it be kept a secret. He stood up and tore through his Ladybug merchandise, looking for his limited-edition Ladybug mask. 

_I am not obsessed_ he thought to himself as his fingers finally found the item in his secret drawer of Ladybug stuff in his closet. He looked down at the collection various action figures and Ladybug-themed outfits. _Okay, maybe that’s not the whole truth._

He quickly returned to his lady and gently put the mask over her magical one as her miraculous beeped for the last time. After the blinding red light had receded, he opened his eyes and looked at his lady. Her magical red suit was now replaced with pink sweat pants and a white tank top. Her hair was out of its usual pigtails and fell on the pillow in an angelic halo around her head. He stared at her for a while, admiring this different side of Ladybug that he has never seen before.

His ears picked up on a small whimpering, pulling him from his stupor. His eyes were drawn to a shivering red kwami. 

“…P-please…h-help…”

“Do you need some Camembert?” he asked. 

The kwami looked at him with a strange expression on her face, like she was studying him. Her eyes were drawn to his right hand where his miraculous lay on his finger. 

Understanding bloomed in her eyes as she looked back to his face. “No, some c-cookies would be n-nice.”

He went to a corner of his room where his secret stash of baked goods were stored and handed some to the kwami. She thanked him gratefully. 

“I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Tikki, nice to meet you Adrien.” She extended one of her little arms. 

He looked at it in surprise. “You know who I am?” 

“Yes, I do. Where’s Plagg? I want to see-”

“Tikki?!” the black kwami shot out of the pocket in Adrien’s shirt and zoomed towards the red kwami, catching her in a tight embrace. They started talking animatedly to each other as they slowly moved to one of Plagg’s favorite hiding places. 

Adrien looked back to his lady still lying unconscious. He grabbed a blanket from the closet and lay it over her slender form. He walked over to the other side of the bed and collapsed, his exhaustion from the akuma fight finally catching up to him. He lay on his back and reached for his lady’s hand, hoping to give her some comfort as well as gain some from her in return. He sighed, grateful that it was the weekend and he and his lady could sleep in and recoup. His exhaustion claimed him a few minutes later sending him into a blissful sleep.

______________________

The soft light of morning shone through Adrien’s window, slowly encompassing the pair in a halo of light. 

Adrien woke slowly, becoming more aware of a weight on his torso. He looked down to find his lady still lost in sleep, head on his chest and arm laying across his middle, her body snuggled up close to his left side. His heart stopped. He had dreamt about this moment. _Did I secretly die and go to heaven?_

Ladybug stirred next to him, somehow snuggling even closer and killing his heart in the process. He reached his hand up to her face and ran his fingers through her beautiful blue hair. Her eyelids fluttered open and she froze, realizing their position on the bed. 

Her bluebell eyes looked up at him. “A-Adrien?!”

“Good Morning Ladybug.”

She took a startled look around the room. “Adrien, wh-what happened? Why am I in your room?”

“Well, uh… Y-you fainted in my arms after the akuma yesterday… I-I thought I should bring you to a safe place so you could rest. That was a nasty akuma…” 

She gasped. “I’m so sorry Adrien! I didn’t mean to be a burden! I was just so tired after I cleansed the city and- wait…” She paused, a horrified expression crossing her features. “If I used my Lucky Charm then… Then I should have-…”

“I p-put the mask on you before you de-transformed. I-I figured you would want to keep it secret…”

She looked up at him disbelievingly. “How did you know I was going to de-transform?”

“Uh…” he hesitated, unsure of what to say that wouldn’t give away that he was Chat Noir. He couldn’t think of a plausible excuse that would explain how he knew about the miraculous. “I… uh…” _Seriously Adrien? This is not helping your case here!_

She sat up and looked him sternly in the eye. “Adrien, how did you-?” she was cut off by two small voices coming from the bathroom. They turned their attention to the two kwami’s approaching, deep in conversation. 

“Are you sure Tikki?” Plagg asked as he was uncharacteristically wringing his hands.

“Yes, Plagg! They have a right to know about each other!”

“But are you sure they’re ready?” 

Tikki glanced at the pair sitting next to each other on the bed in utter disbelief. “Well, if they weren’t ready, they are now.”

Adrien looked at Ladybug, who looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. He cleared his throat, heartbeat ringing in his ears as he thought of what this meant. Their kwami’s thought they were ready to know about each other. This was it. This was the big reveal. 

He looked into her now tear-filled eyes. “My lady? Are you alright?” 

She looked at him with honest disbelief and amazement. “Am I alright? I just found out that my long-time crush is the same person as my kitty. _This is the best day of my life!"_

He stared at her “So… Does this mean that I know you outside of the mask? …Wait, YOU have a crush on ME?”

She blushed underneath the fake mask she was wearing. “Yes, and y-yes.”

He studied her face trying to figure out who she was under the mask. “Who are you?”

She hesitantly reached up to take the mask off, revealing beautiful, talented Marinette. 

“Mari? This whole time, my lady was sitting right behind me? My bugaboo is brave, smart, talented, beautiful Marinette?” His hand reached up to touch her cheek, wonderment and adoration filling his eyes as he stared into the face now completely familiar to him. 

“You-you’re not disappointed?” she asked.

“Disappointed? How could I be disappointed? My lady is beautiful, brave, compassionate, smart, reliable, and my princess Marinette is all of that to me and more! I have fallen in love with both sides of you!”

She looked into his eyes, searching for any hint that he was lying but found none. She smiled. “I fell in love with both sides of you too Chaton. My kind, brave, caring Adrien, and my bold, charming, silly kitty. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Their lips met in a warm embrace. One hand was caressing her cheek while the other on the small of her back pulling her to him. Her hands were threaded through his hair, and he melted into the kiss. The love, gentleness, adoration, and certainty of each other was all poured into that one moment when friend, crush, and partner all molded into one loving whole. 

Marinette pulled back. “So… what happens now?”

He pulled her into a hug. “Now I just have one more thing to ask you. Mari, would you like to be my girlfriend?”

She pulled back and smirked at him. “As Marinette or as Ladybug?”

“Both.” He replied without hesitation, “I want all of you Mari.”

Tears glistened in her eyes as he looked at her with complete adoration. 

“Yes. Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend Chaton.” 

They lay down on the bed, snuggled together in complete bliss. Talking about what their friend’s reactions would be at school on Monday. 

“Alya is going to freak out.” Marinette sighed, “She’ll kill me when she finds out that I kept it from her all weekend… Should I call her?”

Adrien shrugged as best as he could with Marinette laying on his shoulder. “I probably would. I would hate to have my purr-incess meet cat-astrophic death and become a single stray kitty again.”

She poked his chest in mock disgust and he laughed. She got up and pulled her phone from her pocket. She called up Alya and put it on speaker phone so Adrien could contribute to the conversation.

_“Hello?”_

“Hey Alya! I have some… pretty big news to tell you…”

_“Uh oh, please don’t tell me you’re moving!”_

“No, no. Nothing like that, it’s about Adrien…”

_“Oh no. What did the punk do now? Do I need to go over to Agreste Manor and kick some sunshine-boy trash for you? Knock some sense in to that brain of his?”_

“Hey!” Adrien pipped up, “I will have you know that there is no need for any of that here!”

_“… Mari? What’s going on? Why are you with Adrien at 8:00 in the morning?”_

She giggled. “Adrien and I are dating!”

_“WHAT?!?!?!? Okay girl, give me the how, the when, and the why! Leave nothing out! I want DETAILS!!!”_

Mari shared a look with Adrien, both of them fully knowing that they couldn’t tell her everything… There were secret identities at stake here. 

Mari began explaining how it all started after the akuma attack yesterday and how she had been running away for a very long time and collapsed when she ran into Adrien. As she explained the rest of the story, Adrien stared at her, wondering how he got so lucky…

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Remember to be gentle with the comments. I would love to hear from you!


End file.
